The Arctic Home in the Vedas
Encyclopedia
The Arctic Home in the Vedas is a seminal work on the origin of Aryans presented by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Lokmanya Tilak –, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer and independence fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities derogatorily called the great leader "Father of the Indian unrest"...

, a mathematician turned astronomer, historian, journalist, philosopher and political leader of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 during 1880 to 1920. It propounded the theory that North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...

 was the original home of Aryans during pre-glacial period which they had to leave due to the ice deluge around 8000 B.C.
8th millennium BC
In the 8th millennium BC, agriculture became widely practised in the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia.Pottery became widespread and animal husbandry spread to Africa and Eurasia. World population was approximately 5 million.-Events:*c. 8000 BC—The last glacial period ends.*c...

 and had to migrate to the Northern parts of Europe and Asia in search of lands for new settlements. In support to his theory Tilak has presented certain Vedic
Vedic
Vedic may refer to:* the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indic texts** Vedic Sanskrit, the language of these texts** Vedic period, during which these texts were produced** Vedic pantheon of gods mentioned in Vedas/vedic period...

 hymns, Avestic passages, Vedic chronology and Vedic calendars with interpretations of the contents in detail.
The book was written at the end of 1898 but was first published in March 1903 in Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

.

Background

Man was believed to be post-Glacial and the theory of Asiatic Home of Aryans prevailed.
The age of the oldest Vedic period, however, was carried back to 4500 BC. by the scholars including the Author himself after scientific astronomical research in correlation with the evidences found in the Vedic hymns.
The Author held the view that further study of Vedic hymns and Avestic passages might reveal the long vista of primitive Aryan antiquity.

Summary of Tilak’s Polar Theory

  • Neolithic
    Neolithic
    The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

     Aryan race in Europe cannot be regarded as Autochthonous
    Indigenous peoples
    Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

    , nor European Aryans descended from the Paleolithic
    Paleolithic
    The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...

     man. Hence, question of the original Aryan home still unsettled.
  • In the early geological ages Alps
    Alps
    The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

     were low, Himalayas
    Himalayas
    The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

     not yet up heaved, Asia and Africa were represented only by a group of islands and an equable and uniform climate prevailed over the whole surface of the globe. In those days, however, in the Arctic region a warm climate prevailed.
  • The close of the Pliocene
    Pliocene
    The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

     and the whole of the Pleistocene
    Pleistocene
    The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

     period were marked by violent changes of climate bringing on what is called the Glacial and Inter-Glacial epochs. A succession of cold and warm climates must have characterized these Glacial and Inter-Glacial periods which were also accompanied by extensive movements of depression and elevation of land, the depression taking place after the land was weighed down with the enormous mass of ice.
  • Thus a period of glaciations was marked by elevation, extreme cold and the invasion of the ice-caps over regions of the present Temperate zone ; while an inter-glacial period was accompanied by depression of land and milder and congenial climate which made even the Arctic regions habitable.
  • According to the latest geological evidence, the last Glacial period must have closed and Post-Glacial must have commenced at about 10,000 years ago or 8,000 BC. There were at least two Glacial and one Inter-Glacial period, and the geographical distribution of land and water on the earth during the Inter-Glacial period was quite different from what it is at present. It was the coming on of the Glacial age that destroyed this genial climate and rendered the regions unsuited for the habitation of tropical plants and animals.
  • At North Pole one sees the heavenly dome above will seem to revolve round him like a potter’s wheel. The stars will not rise and set but move round and round in horizontal planes during the long night of six months. The Sun, when he is above the horizon for six months; would also appear to revolve in the same way but with some difference. The Northern celestial hemisphere will alone be visible spinning round and round and the Southern half remain invisible. The Sun going into the Northern hemisphere in his annual course will appear as coming up from the South. Living in the temperate and tropical zones, however, one sees all heavenly objects rise in the East and set in the West, some passing over the head, others traveling obliquely.
  • The long dawn of two months is a special and important characteristic of the North Pole. As we descend southward, the splendor and the duration of the dawn will be witnessed on a less and less magnificent scale. But the dawn occurring at the end of the long night of two, three or more months will still be unusually long, often of several days duration.
  • All these characteristics of Arctic home are clearly recorded in several Vedic hymns and Avestic passages and they come to us sometimes as the description of the prevailing conditions or the day-to-day experience or stories told by the earlier generation and sometimes as myths.

Chronology of the Post-Glacial period

  • 10,000 to 8000 BC – The Destruction of the original Arctic home by the last Ice Age
    Ice age
    An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...

     and the commencement of the post-Glacial period.

  • 8000 to 5000 BC – The age of migration from the original home. The survivors of the Aryan race roamed over the northern parts of Europe and Asia in search of lands suitable for new settlements. Tilak calls it as ‘Pre-Orion Period’.

  • 5000 to 3000 BC. - The Orion period, when the vernal equinox was in Orion
    Orion (constellation)
    Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...

    . Many Vedic hymns can be traced to the early part of this period and the bards of the race seem to have not yet forgotten the real importance of the traditions of the Arctic home inherited by them. It was at this time that first attempts to reform the calendar and the sacrificial system appear to have been systematically made.

  • 3000 to 1400 BC – The Krittika period, when the Vernal equinox was in Pleiades
    Pleiades (star cluster)
    In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...

    . The traditions about the original Arctic home had grown dim by this time and very often misunderstood, making the Vedic hymns more and more unintelligible.

  • 1400 to 500 BC – The Pre-Buddhistic period, when the Sutras
    Sutra
    Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...

     and the Philosophical systems made their appearance.

Contents

The book has about 500 pages containing a Preface by the Author and thirteen chapters viz 1. ‘Prehistoric Times’ 2. The Glacial Period 3. The Arctic Regions 4. The Night of the Gods 5.The Vedic Dawns 6. Long Day and Long Night 7. Months and Seasons 8. The Cow’s Walk 9. Vedic Myths – The Captive Waters 10. Vedic Myths – The Matutinal Deities 11. The Avestic Evidence 12. Comparative Mythology. 13. The Bearing of our Results on the History of Primitive Aryan Culture and Religion.
At the end, a General Index and Index of Vedic and Avestic Passages are given.

Evidence in Support of the Theory

1) Vedic
Vedic
Vedic may refer to:* the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indic texts** Vedic Sanskrit, the language of these texts** Vedic period, during which these texts were produced** Vedic pantheon of gods mentioned in Vedas/vedic period...

 Evidences
  • Particulars of Hymns and Verses in ten Mandalas of Rigveda
    Rigveda
    The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...

     are given. For Exp. Hymn 1 Verse 2 Page 459.
  • Particulars of Passages in Taittiriya Samhita are given. For Exp. Passage I, 3,9,2 Page 91.
  • Particulars of Hymns in Vajasaneyi Samhita are given.
  • Particulars of Sama Veda Samhita are given.
  • Particulars of Atharva Veda Samhita are given.
  • Particulars of Aitareya Brahmana
    Aitareya Brahmana
    The Aitareya Brahmana is the Brahmana of the Shakala shakha of the Rigveda, an ancient Indian collection of sacred hymns. This work, according to the tradition is ascribed to Mahidasa Aitareya.-Contents:...

     are given.
  • Particulars of Kaushitaki Brahmana are given.
  • Particulars of Taittiriya Brahmana are given.
  • Particulars of Shatapatha Brahmana
    Shatapatha Brahmana
    The Shatapatha Brahmana is one of the prose texts describing the Vedic ritual, associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It survives in two recensions, Madhyandina and Kanva , with the former having the eponymous 100 adhyayas,7624 kandikas in 14 books, and the latter 104 adhyayas,6806 kandikas in 17...

     are given.
  • Particulars of Tandya Brahmana are given.
  • Particulars of Shadvimsha Brahmana are given.
  • Particulars of Taittiriya Aranyaka are given.
  • Particulars of Upanishads are given.


2) Avestic Evidences
  • Particulars of Vendidad
    Vendidad
    The Vendidad or Videvdat is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the Vendidad is an ecclesiastical code, not a liturgical manual.-Name:...

     passages are given.
  • Particulars of Yashts passages are given.
  • Particulars of Yasna
    Yasna
    Yasna is the name of the primary liturgical collection of texts of the Avesta as well as the name of the principal Zoroastrian act of worship at which those verses are recited. The Yasna, or Izeshne, is primarily the name of the ceremony in which the entire book is recited and appropriate...

     passages are given.

See also

  • Indo-Aryans
    Indo-Aryans
    Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...

  • Aryan
    Aryan
    Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...

  • Arya
  • Ariana
    Ariana
    Ariana was a region of the eastern countries of ancient Iran, next to India.Ariana may also refer to:* Ariana In places:*Ariana Governorate, a governorate in Tunisia*Ariana, Tunisia*Lake Ariana, a lake in Sofia, Bulgaria...

  • Aryavarta
    Aryavarta
    Āryāvarta is a name for Northern India in classical Sanskrit literature. The Manu Smriti gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the Western Sea"....

  • Indo-Aryan languages
    Indo-Aryan languages
    The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...


  • Rigveda
    Rigveda
    The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...

  • Indo-Iranians
    Indo-Iranians
    Indo-Iranian peoples are a linguistic group consisting of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples; that is, speakers of Indo-Iranian languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family....

  • Indo-Iranian languages
    Indo-Iranian languages
    The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan, Iranian and Nuristani...


  • BMAC
  • Andronovo culture
    Andronovo culture
    The Andronovo culture, is a collection of similar local Bronze Age cultures that flourished ca. 21200–1400 BCE in western Siberia and the west Asiatic steppe. It is probably better termed an archaeological complex or archaeological horizon...

  • Kurgan
    Kurgan
    Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus; mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology....


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